For most people learning to code today, the starting point is a screen. A cursor blinks, blocks of colour shift, and feedback arrives visually, instantly.
It is a setup so standard that it rarely gets questioned. But for learners with visual impairments, that single assumption — that a screen is simply part of coding — has quietly kept them out of one of the most consequential skill sets of the 21st century.
Three students from Galgotias University in Greater Noida decided to question it. The result is TACTO, a hands-on learning device that teaches foundational coding concepts through touch, interactive sensors, buttons, and audio feedback — with no screen involved at any step.
The innovation recently won top honours at EDVentures 2026, an international student innovation competition held at The Education University of Hong Kong, where 19 teams from 10 countries presented solutions built around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Why coding tools need to work beyond screens
India is home to around 4.95 million blind people and 35 million visually impaired people, making up nearly one-fourth of the world’s visually impaired population. For many of them, learning to code can feel out of reach from the very first step, especially when the tools available depend so heavily on sight.
The difficulty often begins much before a student reaches a coding class. Many visually impaired children are gently pushed away from science and technology early in school, sometimes through small comments, sometimes through larger institutional choices.
Over time, they begin to hear the same message again and again: this subject may be too difficult, or this field may have no place for them.
For a learner, that can be deeply discouraging. It means losing access to subjects that could open doors to confidence, careers and independence. By the time coding enters the picture, many students have already spent years being told, directly or indirectly, that STEM is meant for someone else.
Instead of reading code on a screen, learners interact with TACTO physically — pressing, feeling, and hearing their way through programming concepts. Photograph: (PCCE)
Most beginner coding tools do little to change that feeling. They are designed around screens, colours, blocks, error messages and visual outputs. Screen readers help many blind users, but early coding platforms still expect learners to follow what appears on a screen, which can make the first lessons confusing and isolating.
This is where the gap becomes very real. In many parts of India and the Global South, only a small number of visually impaired students have access to learning tools that use touch, sound and interaction.
Without those tools, a student’s interest in technology can fade long before they get a fair chance to explore it.
How buttons, sensors and audio become a coding lesson
TACTO uses buttons, sensors, and audio feedback to help visually impaired learners understand foundational coding concepts through touch and sensory interaction.
Rather than asking a student to read code on a screen or follow visual cues, the device makes the logic of programming tangible — something that can be felt, pressed, and heard.
Concepts like sequencing, loops, and conditionals, which underpin all coding, are delivered through experience rather than sight.
The approach aligns closely with how learning researchers understand knowledge acquisition in multisensory environments: that understanding is deeper when learners engage physically with an idea rather than observing it passively.
For visually impaired students especially, tactile and auditory learning pathways are not accommodations — they are the primary channel through which complex ideas are best absorbed.
The project was represented by Gaurang Pant, a third-year BTech Computer Science and Engineering student; Shristi Mandoliya, a second-year BTech Computer Science and Engineering with Data Science student; and Kavya Singh, a third-year BBA Financial Investment Analysis student.
The team was mentored by entrepreneur Rachit Mathur, who described the process as one built on sustained debate, refinement, and conviction. “What started as mentorship eventually felt like working alongside co-founders,” he said, noting that the team’s belief in their idea carried them through a rigorous preparation process covering pitch strategy, go-to-market thinking, and investor readiness.
The student idea that stood out among global teams
At EDVentures 2026, TACTO competed against student innovators from universities including Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, East China Normal University, and Mahidol University in Thailand, among others.
Project TACTO won the Top Prize and the AWS Championship Prize, receiving total prize money and support worth USD 7,000.
Speaking after the win, the founders said the experience of competing internationally deepened their sense of purpose.
“We wanted to build something that could make learning more inclusive and accessible for visually impaired learners, and this recognition has strengthened our belief that technology can become a powerful tool for meaningful social impact.”
The project contributes directly toward UN Sustainable Development Goal 4, which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education for all. For a student who has been told, explicitly or implicitly, that coding is simply not for them — TACTO makes a simple case: when learning tools change, more learners can enter the room.
